A VET cleared of deliberately destroying a swans' nest has sounded a warning to his accusers.

Timothy Briggs told me he was eager to take action against a small number of villagers. 'There is a small syndicate of local people who have defamed my character by ringing my practice and the Press,' he said.

'I am not a vindictive person but I shall be pursuing the matter. They will have to account for their actions.'

'This has been weighing heavily on my mind for a long period of time.

'If I had lost I would have had to face a disciplinary hearing which could have resulted in suspension or I could have been struck off. My livelihood would have gone.'

Mr Briggs was cleared following a three-day trial at Chester Magistrates' Court where he was acquitted of two charges under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.

Mr Briggs, 49, hugged his family after deputy district judge Gerallt Jones ruled he could not be sure Mr Briggs destroyed the nest.

The family man, a senior partner at the Nantwich Veterinary Group, was charged with sabotaging the nest of the protected species on two occasions in March of last year. He denied both charges.